Nitecap

After descending a set of inconspicuous stairs and wrestling with a dark velvet curtain, Nitecap’s mirrored bar emerges as a tiny horizon. Before the orderly seven-seat bar is a small section of low-slung crimson booths reminiscent of the kind of lounge seating perfectly suited to bottle service. In this brave new world of high-low cocktails from the team behind Death & Co., artisanal cognac and spritzers are not mutually exclusive and the usual coupe and double-old-fashioned glasses that signal “cocktail bar” are hardly present. In their place, there are enamel tin mugs piled high with crushed ice and mint bouquets and garnish picks skewered with what look like primary-colored abacus beads. Cocktails aren’t ceremonious at Nitecap; they’re just damn good.